Resilient mounting means for tray dividers



April 1970 m R. A. SCHOTTLAND 3,504,956

RESILIENT MOUNTING MEANS FOR TRAY DIVIDERS Filed March 4, 1968INVENTOR/S 205.52%. Swarm/v0,

United States Patent O U.S. Cl. 312140.3 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE Resilient mounting means for securing the opposite ends ofdividers in a tray or similar structure having opposing walls betweenwhich the divider extends, the mounting means comprising an extrudedstrip-like member formed from a resilient material such as rubber orflexible plastic, the member being of generally elongated rectangularconfiguration having a divider receiving slot extending lengthwise alongone of its sides and a plurality of spaced apart gripping elementsextending lengthwise along its opposite side, the insertion of a dividerinto the slot serving to flex or arch the gripping elements intoclamping engagement with the wall surface engaged by the mountingmember.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Modern merchandising has placed everincreasing emphasis on the display of the merchandise being sold and itsready accessibility to the customer for inspection and purchase. To thisend, the practice of binning merchandise has become more and moreprevalent. Binning refers to the practice of placing the merchandise inbins which are of a size to just nicely receive the articles whenstacked one upon the other or otherwise arranged in'the bin. Binning, ofcourse, requires that the display counters, which are usually walled, beprovided with dividers which divide the available space into as manybins as are desired to contain the articles being displayed. In order tobe flexible and accommodate different numbers and sizes of articles atdifferent times, the dividers must be readily movable form one positionto another, and over the years numerous divider clips, usually formedfrom metal, have been proposed. These clips are designed to be securedto the walls of the display table with flanges arranged to engage theend edges of the dividers. Diverse designs of clips are available tosuit difierent conditions of use, such as forming corners, T-joints,crosses, and the like.

Clips of the character described have a number of disadvantages. Theyare relatively expensive and different style clips must be kept on handfor different applications, depending upon where the dividers are to belocated and their relationship to each other. In addition, where thedividers are made of glass they tend to be scratched and chipped by themetal clips, particularly if the clamping portions of the clips havebeen bent so as to be too tight for the thickness of glass beinginserted in them. Alternatively, if the clips are bent in the oppositedirection and become too loose, they will no longer securely hold thedividers in place. While the dividers themselves are generally ofstandard thicknesses, many of the walled display trays with which theyare used vary in depth and also in thickness, with the result that it isoften impossible to find a fitting precisely suited to the particularneed. Similarly, if the dividers are of substantial depth, clips must beprovided at both tops and bottoms, and possibly at intermediate points,which poses additional problems. Various formsof essentially rigidplastic clips have also been proposed, but in general they sutfer frommany of ""ie same disadvantages found in metallic clips.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In contrast to the foregoing, the instantinvention provides resilient mounting strips for dividers which may beformed as a continuous extrusion, wound into rolls, and supplied to theuser in a form such that the desired length for any given applicationmay be readily severed from the supply roll.

Mounting strips in accordance with the invention may be formed fromrubber, either natural or synthetic, or from any of the numerous plasticmaterials which have elastic qualities, such as the so-called elasticvinyls.

The configuration of the mounting strips is important if they are tosuccessfully hold the dividers in place. Essentially, the strips are ofgenerally rectangular configuration having relatively wide front andrear sides with narrower ends. A divider receiving groove is formedlengthwise along the center of the front side. The groove is, however,narrower at its mouth than at its base, and the mouth is narrower thanthe thickness of the divider which is to be inserted in the groove.

The rear side of the member is provided with opposing sets of inwardlyinclined gripping elements which are in the nature of flexible finsextending lengthwise of the member, the opposing sets of fins lying toeach side of a relatively narrow flexible bridge underlying thelongitudinal groove, the bridge connecting together the opposite halvesof the member.

When the end edge of a divider is inserted in the mouth of the grooveand seated against its base, the mouth of the groove is expanded and theopposite halves of the member are flexed laterally, the member bendingor flexing about its bridge. The bridge is in eflect arched so that theopposing sets of fins are forced into biting engagement with the wallsurface which they contact. Since the opposing sets of fins are inwardlydirected, they effectively wedge against the wall surface and resistlateral shifting or rolling movement.

Being formed from a flexible elastic material, the mounting strips donot scratch either the divider or the wall surfaces engaged thereby. Itwill be understood. of course, that the length of the divider will besuch that its opposite ends will lie in close proximity to the opposingwall surfaces or other dividers betweenwhich the divider in Question isto extend, the divider thus serving to effectively force the mountingmembers into engagement with the opposing supporting surfaces.

THE DRAWINGS FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a walled dis lay table inwhich several dividers have been mounted utilizing the resilientmounting means of the instant invention.

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of one of the mounting members seen inFIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is an end elevational view of the mounting member in itsoriginal condition before the insertion of a divider.

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view illustrating the manner in whichthe divider acts to flex or arch the mounting member and press the finsinto clamping engagement with the supporting wall surface.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIGURE 1,there is illustrated a modern walled display table 1 having a top 2enclosed by front wall 3, rear wall 4, and opposing end walls 5 and 6.In the embodiment illustrated the display table is provided with astorage compartment underlying the top 2 accessible through slidingdoors 7 and 8.

The walled top of the display table is divided into compartments or bins9, 10 and 11 by means of the dividers 12 and 13 extending between thefront and rear walls 3 and 4, respectively. In accordance with theinvention, the dividers are fixed in place by mounting members 14 whichare urged into clamping engagement with the front and rear walls bymeans of the dividers.

As seen in FIGURES 2 and 3, each of the mounting members 14 is ofgenerally rectangular configuration, having a relatively wide front wall15 with its opposite side edges rounded at 16 to join the opposite endwalls 17 and 18. A longitudinal channel or groove 19 extends centrallythroughout the length of the member, the groove having a mouth 20 whichis narrower than its base 21, the mouth and base being joined byinclined side walls 22 and 23.

The longitudinal groove divides the member into opposing halves 24 and25, there being an inset portion 26 underlying the base 21 of groove 19defining a relatively narrow bridge 27 interconnecting the oppositehalves of the member.

Opposing sets of fins or gripping elements 28, 29 project outwardly andinwardly from the rear wall of the body halves 24 and 25, respectively,the fins in each set lying in spaced apart relation in the mannerillustrated. The number of fins employed does not constitute alimitation on the invention, although preferably there will be aplurality of such fins in each set.

FIGURE 4 illustrates the mounting member 14 in its position of use, inthis instance the mounting member receiving one end of the divider 12and securely mounting it relative to the front wall 3 of the displaytable shown in FIGURE 1. It will be noted that the divider 12, wheninserted in the groove 19 acts to flex the mounting member laterally,the opposite halves 24 and of the member flexing about the bridge 27.The sets of fins 28 and 29 are compressed against the supporting wall 3and enter into clamping engagement with the wall. Lateral displacementof the member in the direction of the arrow A is resisted by the fins28, whereas lateral movement in the direction of arrow B is resisted bythe fins 29. The compressed fins also act to urge the mounting memberoutwardly, i.e., in the direction of the divider 12, and hence a wedgingor locking action is obtained. The side walls 22 and 23 of the groove 19engage the opposite sides of the divider and hold it against movementlengthwise of the groove and at the same time prevent any looseness orrattling of the divider. Being formed from an elastic material, themounting member effectively cushions the divider and will not scratch ormar its edges. Yet when it is desired to remove the divider it may bemanually displaced lengthwise of the grooves for removal,

Size does not constitute a limitation on the invention, nor does theparticular configuration of the sets of fins which may be rectangular incross-section, tapered or terminate in pointed edges. If the member ismolded, the fins may be interrupted or in the nature of a multiplicityof individual fingers, although a preference is expressed for extrudingthe member in continuous lengths, in which event the fins will becontinuous throughout the length of the extrusion. By providing thestrips in continuous lengths, the user may sever such continuous lengthstransversely into the desired size for a given installation. Even onreuse, should a subsequent installation require mounting members oflesser lengths than those which are available, the available members maybe cut to the required lengths for the new installation.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A mounting member for display table dividers and the like comprisinga length of distortable resilient material having front and rearsurfaces, a groove extending centrally throughout the full length of thefront surface of said member for receiving an end edge of a divider,said groove having a mouth and a base and being narrower at its mouththan at its base, said groove acting to effectively divide said memberlongitudinally into opposing halves connected together by a bridgemember defined between the base of said groove and the rear surface ofsaid member, a plurality of longitudinally extending fins projectingoutwardly from the rear surfaces of the opposing halves of said mountingmember, said fins being arranged in opposing sets lying on oppositesides of said groove and inclined inwardly toward each other, theopposing halves of said member and the fins carried thereby beingdisplaceable relative to each other about said bridge member upon theinsertion in said groove of a divider of a width to expand the mouth ofsaid groove outwardly.

2. The mounting member claimed in claim 1 wherein the central portion ofsaid rear surface is relieved to decrease the thickness of said bridgemember.

3. The mounting member claimed in claim 2 wherein said member is ofgenerally rectangular configuration, the front and rear surfaces lyingin generally parallel relation and joined together at their outermostedges by generally parallel end wall surfaces.

4. In combination with a display table or the like having opposing wallsurfaces and a removable divider extending between said opposing wallsurfaces, mounting members detachably connecting the opposite ends ofsaid divider to said opposing wall surfaces, said mounting members eachcomprising a length of distortable resilient material having front andrear surfaces, a groove extending centrally throughout the length of thefront surface of said member, said groove having a mouth and a base andacting to divide the mounting member into opposing halves connectedtogether by a bridge member lying between the base of said groove andthe rear surface of said mounting member, and a plurality oflongitudinally extending fins projecting outwardly from the rearsurfaces of the opposing halves of said mounting member, said fins beingarranged in opposing sets lying on opposite sides of said groove andinclined inwardly toward each other, the mouth of said groove beingnarrower than the thickness of said divider, whereby when said divideris inserted in said groove, the opposite halves of the mounting memberwill be flexed about said bridge in the direction of the wall surfacecontacted by the rear surface of said mounting member, thereby wedgingsaid fins into clamping engagement with the said wall surface.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,893,186 1/1933 Thomas et al.211184X 2,125,747 8/1938 Zadek 211-184 X 2,144,804 1/1939 Irwin et al.211--184X 2,255,725 9/1941 Trescher 49141 2,263,813 11/1941 Mason 3542,548,556 4/1951 Ogren 52-400 2,612,947 10/1952 Jenks 160-354 X2,622,286 12/1952 Beck 49484 X 2,825,941 3/1958 Lux et al. 52--400XTHOMAS F. CALLAGHAN, Primary Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R, 10861; 211-184

